Crooked Run Orchard

Today we took the boys apple picking!  The weather was nice and the season was right.  They seemed to enjoy it more this year and didn't tire when carrying their heavy buckets full of apples.

Now I just need a good apple pie recipe!  We'll never get through all these apples!

Happy Friday!

Hope it's restful!!

Party of Three Please!

Last Friday Seth and I took Ben out for his birthday to celebrate - he picked dinner at the location of his choice (CiCis) then we took him for ice cream afterwards at his favorite, PinkBerry.  We had some extra time so we let him bowl a few rounds at KingPin too.  

It was so nice to spend some alone time with the little guy, though it was eerie with the quietness and lack of dynamics of our usual party of five.  I think even Ben was missing his brothers, but when given the choice he opted to leave them at home ;-) 

Happy 5th Birthday Ben!

Today Ben turns FIVE!  I sometimes look at him dressed in his PJs, walking down the stairs in the morning all by himself and think - THIS IS MY BABY!?

I reflect back on the days when he was just a few months old and playing with his buddy Owen (who he is now in preschool class with).

I can easily say that Ben has made 'lifelong' friends.  (Yes, some things will never change)

Ben sitting with his friends in preschool earlier this week after they sung happy birthday...

Ben, we are so proud of you and all you have accomplished in your short little life.  We love your unique talents and traits and know that you will be someone BIG when you grow up.  Happy birthday buddy!!

Tonight Seth and I look forward to a special two-on-one date with Ben.  I can't recall the last time Ben got to spend time alone with just his Mom and Dad.  It's something we hope to offer all of our boys on their birthdays for years to come.

Ben's Birthday Party

Today was Ben's 5th birthday party.  It was at Sports Bounce in Loudoun - a place that the boys would have been terrified of last year.  What a difference a few months make!!  Ben invited his closest friends and it was a huge success.  No meltdowns (from Ben) and he had a smile the entire day.  He was very thankful and showed his gratitude by expressing it all afternoon.  

Thomas the Train theme... yet again!  (It's what he picked!)

Don't mind AJ, he's bouncing all by himself!

AJ and Thomas... well, they didn't make things easy!!  Poor Thomas came down with a cold and spent most of his time crying and AJ lost it a few times as well.  Thank God for Kara, our fabulous sitter who was there to help man the fort.  She took care of business!!

(AJ had some 'time out' outside)

 

Thomas finally happy with some cake!

Thank you to everyone who came out and made Ben's birthday a success.  I couldn't' have imagined a better day for him!!!

Tubes for Thomas

Last Wednesday Thomas had a small procedure to put tubes in his ears.  He's had over 7 ear infections the past year and hasn't been sleeping that great.  And as we already know his gross motor and speech is delayed.  I made an appointment at the ENT after our beach trip and eagerly awaited the surgery!!

Here is a video of little T-pain waiting to go back - yes, we realize he's in his PJs and we forgot shoes but we didn't wake up until our babysitter texted us letting us know she was outside.  So we were kind of in a rush.  It's not really anything spectacular but since he's the third kid and I have no videos of him I thought I'd post something... even if it's not interesting (what IS interesting is that Seth shaved his head)

Little guy waiting patiently!!

 T was such a trooper and the surgery was quick and easy!  (Much better than the endoscopies, that's for sure!!) Let's pray that all improves and he starts talking better!  Right now he just mumbles a lot of jumbo!!

Full Swing Ahead!

Ben's 5th birthday is coming up and for his gift we bought him a BIG boy bike with training wheels.  He was thrilled and couldn't wait to hop on!  With the beautiful weather we let him open the bike early and took it for a spin earlier this week.  He did great!!!

In another great news Ben finally learned how to pump and swing on his own!  This is huge as pushing three kids at the park was always a challenge.

We're still working on AJ...

As for Thomas, well, he's our little "baby" and always will be.  

Meet the Teacher

Tuesday the boys had their meet the teacher at St. David's.  We opted to keep Ben in the Pre-K program in preschool as he wasn't socially ready for kindergarden (his birthday is in September so we could have chosen to send him this year).  LynnAnn, his resource teacher through the county, came out and gave him an aptitude of tests so that we can update his IEP for this year.  It is no doubt that he is bright as he scored well above the 7 year old range in a variety of areas including problem solving.

Ben & AJ are both in the afternoon program allowing me to have the mornings free for activities (I've enrolled them in swimming and hope to have them in gymnastics too!).  Ben goes Mondays through Thursdays and AJ goes Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They both gave up their nap this summer so it actually works out great.  And Seth bought me the priority pickup spot through the preschool auction last Spring so I've got an extra 10 minutes to spare before picking them up!  Ben was very anxious on meet the teacher day - telling me to "go first, have AJ stand behind you, and then I'll stand behind AJ so no one sees me."  He was very nervous.  After getting into his old classroom and settling down with the train building station he made himself at home.  All the while AJ had disappeared into HIS classroom on his own and was building his own train track.  Needless to say, getting them to leave was very hard (AJ cried).

 The first day of school was a success and Ben through a fit when I asked for him to pose for this picture because he "wanted to hurry up and go to school, he was SO excited!!"  I'm hopeful that this year will bring lots of maturity and prepare Ben for kindergarden next year.  AJ, well, he's always loved school and excels at all he does, including talking.